Darwin Travel Information

Darwin is the most populated city of Australia's Northern Territory, also serving as that territory's capital city. At a population of 145,000, it is dwarfed by Australia's larger cities, but in the otherwise rural Northern Territory, it stands out as the obvious industrial hub. Darwin is in a quite remote location, situated 2,600 km from both Perth and Adelaide.

The history of Darwin is a rich one. In the middle 19th century, it served as a port for Charles Darwin's famous HMS Beagle. Despite its historical roots, Darwin is a thoroughly modern city, owing to the fact that it has twice been more or less destroyed, first by Japanese air raids in 1942 and second by Cyclone Tracy in 1974.

Darwin is the economic hub of the Northern Territory, with its biggest industries being mining and tourism. It also serves as a center for higher education, with Charles Darwin University being a leader in post-secondary and continuing education.

Popular leisure activities include the many outdoor markets, the Darwin festival, which celebrates the fine arts, and the Speargrass festival, which features unique representations of the northern Australia lifestyle.

Darwin International Airport

Darwin is served by Darwin International Airport, which is in the northern suburbs of the city about 15 km from the city centre. Many of the flights in and out of the airport come from Qantas, and there are regular routes to Australia's other main airports and to destinations in the rest of Oceania. Getting to and from the airport is easy, as there are buses, taxis, and rental cars available at the airport.

Did you know...

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) airport code for Brisbane is BNE and for Darwin it is DRW.